Filling feeler for quill change motion



vApril 8, 1958 c. R. BEALL FILLING FEELER FOR QUILL CHANGE MOTION Fi1e d Nqv. 23, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VENTOR CHARLES R055 BEALL mlyv ig m April 8, 1958 c. R. BEALL 2,329,673.

FILLING FEELER FOR QUILL CHANGE MOTION Filed Nov. 23, 1954 2 Sheets-Shee'i: 2

FIG. 7.:

CHARLES R055 BEALL ATTORNEYS United States Patent FILLING FEELER FOR QUILL CHANGE MOTION Charles Ross Beall, La Grange, Ga., assignor, by mesne assignments, to West Point Manufacturing Company, West Point, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Application November 23, 1954, Serial No. 470,764

2 Claims. (Cl. 139-273) This invention relates to filling feeler mechanisms for automatically replenishing looms, and more particularly to electrical filling feelers of the floating, side slipping type.

Side slipping filling feelers and their function in actuating automatic quill change motions when the yarn on a filling quill nears exhaustion are well known and understood in the art. Sensitivity in such devices is obviously desirable, but magnifies operational difliculties, in that at times a quill may be doifed while still wound with yarn to some extent, or not at all. The former case entails waste of filling yarn, and the latter may necessitate stopping the loom and possibly rejection of cloth, due to set marks.

In high speed operation, bouncing and/or vibration of the shuttle often causes malfunction of the filling feeler, and consequent premature dofi'ing. This is particularly troublesome in box looms, wherein in addition to bouncing and vibrating, the shuttles may be transversely deflected by the box guides or other elements, thereby causing the filling feelers to slip sidewise even when engaged by quills having considerable filling thereon.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved filling feeler of the side slipping type, which will actuate the automatic replenishing mechanism of a loom when a quill in a shuttle is bared of yarn, but will not so function when the feeler engages yarn on the quill, even though side slipping occurs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel filling feeler readily adjustable to perform satisfactorily under a variety of conditions, with outstanding sensitivity. Further, adjustment of the device is readily accomplished without disassembly thereof, or removal from the loom.

Another object is to provide a filling feeler particularly adapted for operation on box looms, although equally useful on looms of the single shuttle type. Further objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention and the novel features thereof may best be made clear from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration showing a pair of filling feelers arranged for operation with a 2 x 1 box loom;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the device of Figure 2, looking toward the left-hand side thereof;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the device of Figures 2 and 3, with the casing cover removed and with a portion of the casing body broken away, this view be ing taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the exemplary feeler, with the casing cover removed, illustrating the side slipping and electrical contact making function of the device when engaged by a bare quill;

Figure 6 is a view corresponding to Figure 5, illustracting the normal action of the device when engaged by a quill with filling thereon, and

Figure 7 is a view corresponding to Figure 5, illustrating the action of the device when engaged by a quill with filling thereon, but nevertheless deflected to the side thereby.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figures 2, 3

and 4, the exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises a casing including a casing body 10 and a casing cover 12, which may be detachably secured to the casing body in conventional fashion, as by a small screw 13 passing through the casing cover and threaded into the casing body bore 14. Inside the casing is: mounted a floating, side slipping feeler 15 of conventional form, provided with a feeler head 16, heel portion 17, and a toe portion 18 adapted to engage a stop 19 formed in the casing body 10. The feeler 15 extends outwardly through the slot or opening 20 formed in the top of the casing body adjacent one end thereof, and is biased in such direction by resilient means such as spring 22, which is engaged when the casing is assembled to a stud 23 extending from the casing body wall and to the reentrant portion 24 of the feeler, between the heel and toe portions thereof.

An electrical contact 25 is mounted adjacent or preferably on the casing end spaced from the top opening 20, desirably above the interior stop 19. As best shown in Figure 4, the electrical contact may be formed by a small bolt 26 extending through an insulating collar 27 positioned in the casing body, and maintained in place by a pair of nuts 28, the inner of which may act against a washer 29. As will be evident, the nuts 28 are adapted to clamp between them an electrical connection 30, soldered to a conductor 32.

As an outstanding feature of the invention, the casing is provided with an elongated end opening 33, disposed below the electrical contact 25 and extending from about the vicinity of stop 19 substantially to the bottom of the device. The end opening 33 may be formed entirely in the casing cover as illustrated, in the casing body, or in both. From the feeler 15, at or adjacent the toe portion 18 thereof, a contact member 34 extends outwardly through the end opening 33. The contact member 34 may be constructed of strap metal such as spring steel or other electrical conducting material, and at a point spaced somewhat from the casing end is bent upwardly as at 35 in the direction of the electrical contact 25, and adjacent its outer end may be bent outwardly as at 36 to dispose its end portion 37 diagonally with respect to the outer end of the contact 25.

The operation and function of the device will now be described in detail. Figure 1 illustrates one side of a 2 x 1 box loom, wherein the shuttle outline 38 represents the final position of a shuttle at the end of a pick, the line 39 representing the path of the shuttles across the loom. Shuttle position 40 represents the final posi tion of one shuttle when elevated by the box mechanism, and shuttle position 42 represents the final position of the other shuttle when lowered by the box mechanism. 43 and 44 represent, respectively, the upper and lower outside box guides of the box mechanism. As is conventional on box looms, filling feelers, indicated generally by the numerals 45 and 46, are vertically disposed in opposedrelationship, above and below the shuttle positions 40 and 42 and in alignment with the movement of the box mechanism, the filling feelers in such case being disposed for operation by the vertical movement of the shuttles and quills contained therein under the influence of the box mechanism.

As illustrated in Figure 6, when the lower feeler 46 is engaged y a qu ll 47 having filling 48 thereon, the feeler 3 head 16 of the feeler will be engaged by the filling, and the feeler normally moved thereby directly inwardly. In such case, the feeler Will be guided in its inward movement by the edges of the casing top opening 20, and by the inner surface 49 of the casing body adjacent opening 20. In such inward movement, the feeler necessarily extends the spring 22, and the contact member 34 is moved downwardly away from the electrical contact 25.

When the filling has almost run out, the feeler head 16 is engaged by a bare portion of the quill 47, as illus-- trated in Figure 5, although a residual bunch St of filling may remain on the quill inside the point of contact. In well-known manner, the feeler head and feeler are caused by such low friction contact with the smooth quill to slip sidewise, to the right as shown. This action will occur even though the feeler and feeler head disposed normally with respect to the quill axis, due primarily to the slight taper of the quill, or it may be facilitated by slight angulation of the feeler with respect to the quill axis, in the direction of desired slippage. The sidewise movement of the feeler causes it to pivot substantially about its reentrant portion 24 on the engaged end of spring 20, and this pivotal movement is effective to bring the outer end portion 37 of the contact member 34 firmly and forcibly into engagement with the electrical contact 25. As will be readily understood, a circuit may be completed in this manner to actuate the automatic replenishing mechanism, so that the empty or almost empty quill will be defied in the course of the next pick, and replaced by a fully wound quill.

In high speed box loom operation, the shuttles are often subject to considerable bouncing and vibration, in Which case their movement by the box mechanism out of picking position may not be entirely vertical, but may have a horizontal component of movement. the alignment action of the outside box guides may result in some transverse movement of the shuttles and quills contained therein at the moment the feelers are engaged. Due to these factors and possibly others, the feeler often slips to the side even when engaged by a quill with a considerable quantity of filling thereon. With known feelers, this unintended and undesired action re sults in premature dofiing of the quills.

In the device of the present invention, however, as suming proper adjustment, if the feeler is moved inwardly any substantial distance by filling 011 the quill, inadvertent side slipping will not result in actuation of the quill change motion. Figure 7 illustrates the engagement of the feeler 15 by a full quill 47. The filling 43, as clearly shown, is effective to move the feeler inwardly a substantial distance, but the feeler is nevertheless illustrated in side slipped position, as may occur due to vibration, bouncing or the like.

In the present device, inward movement of the feeler 15 is effective to move the contact member 34 carried thereby inwardly a corresponding distance, and away from the electrical contact 25. Under such circumstance, should side slipping of the feeler occasion the previously described pivotal movement of the feeler about its reentrant portion 24, and corresponding inward movement of the outer end portion 37 of the contact mem ber 34 toward the case end, the displaced contact member cannot engage the electrical contact. In this manner, undesired dofling of a quill having filling thereon is positively avoided, even though the feeler slips to the side.

As previously indicated, the contact member 34 may be formed of spring steel or similarly pliable metal material, whereby it may be readily bent, cut, or otherwise adjusted for sensitive and accurate functioning under all circumstances. The contact member may be easily and quickly adjusted so that any filling on the quill portion engaged will be effective to prevent dofiiing. The contact member being disposed externally of the feeler cas- Similarly,

ing, such adjustment may be made at any time without disassembly of the device, or removal thereof from the loom. Further, the external disposition of the contact member 34 precludes fouling and malfunction of the device, which might otherwise occur through collection of ilnt or other debris inside the casing. Also, the relative position of the external electrical contact may be readily varied, as by the placement of washers beneath the outer nut 28, to further increase the range of adjustment and line sensitivity control.

As will be evident, the filling feeler of the invention is adapted with equal facility and utility for use on single shuttle looms, in which case the feeler will normally be mounted horizontally and disposed for engagement by the quill in the course of the fore and aft movement of the shuttle. In such case the feeler head will be disposed to engage the quill through the conventional side opening of the shuttle.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this invention a structure in which the various objects hereinbefore set forth, together with many practical advantages, are successfully achieved. As various possible embodiments may be made of the mechanical features of the above invention, all without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

i claim:

1. A feeler mechanism for looms comprising a casing, said casing having an opening in one side thereof and a rear end opening spaced from said side, a floating side slipping feeler mounted in said casing and extending outwardly through said rear end opening, a contact strap extending from the inner end of said feeler outwardly through said side opening, and an insulated electrical contact mounted externally on the side of said casing to the rear of said side opening, said contact strap being rearwardly bent intermediate its length and outwardly bent adjacent its outer end whereby it is adapted to engage said electrical contact when said feeler is displaced to the side without major inward movement and means for mounting said feeler in said casing including resilient means engaged to said feeler and said casing, said resilient means cooperating with the portions of said casing adjacent the openings therein for retaining said feeler in desired position.

2. A feeler mechanism for looms comprising a casing, said casing having an opening in one side thereof and a rear end opening spaced from said side, a floating side slipping feeler mounted in said casing and extending outwardly through said rear end opening, a contact member attached to and extending from said feeler outwardly through said side opening, said contact member being rearwardly bent intermediate its length, and an insulated electrical contact mounted externally on the side of said casing to the rear of said side opening and being disposed adjacent a free end of said contact member, said contact member being adapted to engage said electrical contact when said feeler is displaced to the side without major inward movement and to clear said electrical contact when said feeler is displaced to the side with inward movement.

. References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

